The Poet X

It's unfortunate that poetry just doesn't click with me, so I'll leave this unrated. Even with that personal road block, I could tell this was beautiful. I could tell that so many people could feel something from this, could take something important from it. It helped listening to the audiobook, since this gave the vibes more of spoken poetry which obviously came through in the author's narration and I think was the intent. This may not have clicked with me, but I related to Xiomara in many ways, and didn't in others. I felt her pain and frustration and confusion with her mother, her body, the church. Personally, I think we could have lived without the romance, but that's maybe just me. Overall, this was not for me, but I think it might stick with me anyway.

At this point, I can't dislike anything Acevedo writes. This is such a beautiful book.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo is the story of Xiomara Batista. She's a too tall twin growing up in Harlem. Her smaller, quieter twin is everything her mother wants. She on the other hand is everything her hyper Catholic mother fears. She's interested in one boy only but because she's Black, mixed race, and buxom, she gets male attention, female scorn, and a reputation that has a life of its own. http://pussreboots.com/blog/2018/comm...

If you are thinking of reading this, do it on audio, so good!

Buddy read with Cat!

An incredibly powerful piece told entirely in verse, in what appear to be the poems protagonist Xiomara (the Poet X) writes in the notebook gifted to her by her twin brother.

These poems are raw, vulnerable, tragic, heart-rending. They evoke so many feelings, of despair and nostalgia. They tell of first love, self-discovery, religious trauma, abuse, over-sexualization.

I adore the role spoken word plays in Xiomara's growth and healing, and watching her allow herself to take part in how powerful community can be.

This was so beautifully written and my heart is bursting!!! And so are my tear ducts!!!!

Book #78 Read in 2018 The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo This is a verse novel that high school girls will eat up. X is a tough girl who uses poetry to express the feelings that her very religious mother wants her to keep inside. Her life is not an easy one and X is a complicated girl. A quick and powerful read.

*4.5. This book was everything I expected it to be: a-freaking-mazing!❤️

3.5

4.5 / 5

I had heard so much about this author and WOW I'm so glad I picked up this book. I haven't read a lot of poetry or stories in verse, and the talent of Elizabeth Acevedo to be able to say so much with so few words is amazing. I found myself completely drawn in and loved this book.

I really loved this book. It lived up to all the hype it’s gotten since it’s announcement and I’m so thankful I was able to read it. Xiomara is a first generation American who is trying to balance her life as such the best she can. Her family is from the Dominican Republic and her mother is extremely religious, only having married her husband to get to America. She tries to force these beliefs on Xiomara and her twin brother. But Xio is finding herself and questioning the things she’s known all her life. She does so through poetry and is able to find her voice in it. But this doesn’t come without hardships and cruelty when her mother finds out she’s dating a boy and about the poems themselves. The writing in this book is simply beautiful. It’s done through poetry as Xio tells us the events that are some of her hardest to deal with. It makes these events more personal and brings you closer to her as a character. Though this book is something that is more focused on other first generation Americans that have to deal with finding a balance between their culture and the world they live in, I think a lot of people can still relate to different parts of this, such as questioning things your told to believe such as God and different things such as rules set by parents at this age. I do warn that there is a lot of difficult subjects in this book such as abuse, sexual harassment and assault, sex, and a little bit about drugs. Sadly it’s something that a lot of people have to face, more so now it seems then ever. I think this book handled it well though and more than once I couldn’t help thinking how important this book is on subjects that are currently in the focal point of our news. I highly recommend this book. It might not be for you, but it’s not written for you. This book is for all the first generation teens and adults out there. It’s about culture and finding balance. Even if it isn’t for you, I recommend it to better understand such issues people face.

This was such a beautiful read. I’ve known about The poet x ever since it came out, I wanted it for every birthday and Christmas, but I guess it got lost in my wishes. Whilst reading this I thought a lot about my younger self and how much she would’ve loved this book. How much it would make her, me, feel understood and seen. But I suppose everything happens for a reason and I’m glad I could find a way to this book even now, with some of my lessons learned. Elizabeth Acevedo simply never disappoints me, her poetry, just as her prose, is captivating and pure; astounding. The world of poetry slam is just now opening to me, more and more everday. I love it, expressing your words, feelings in a spoken word poem, wow. I have found church in poetry a long time ago; it amazes me how much power there is in word.

The writing style of this was really interesting and I loved how the story just flowed. This was enjoyable and at one point I even got emotional thinking about similar issues I had with my parents when I was Xiomara's age. This is a coming of age story worth reading and I'm glad that I read it. I'm even interested in reading more poetry because of this book. The author narrates the audio book and she did a fantastic job, I don't think anyone could have read her book better.

My biggest two issues:

1. X listens to To Pimp a Butterfly, one of the greatest and most influential albums of the past decade, and all she can think to say is “it was pretty cool” (she is a poet, mind you).

2. X puts Drake in the same category as Kendrick and J. Cole.

But besides that, this book was pretty cool.

A great, quick read. I loved what it did, especially that it was written in verse was amazing.

4/5stars And I think about all the things we could be if we were never told our bodies were not built for them. I'm not big on YA and I am a little hesitant to pick poetry BUT HOLY SHMOLLY THIS BOOK. OH GOD I LOVED IT SO MUCH. This book is heart-wrenching. This book is so beautiful, so powerful. This is a journey of a YA character named Xiomara who is trying to come to terms with her body, her sexuality, her ways of coping with extremely conservative family who make her pray to the Virgin Mary. Xiomara (or The Poet X) talks about her everything she experiences in verse, through her poems. That's her only way to let it out, to share what she is going through. she talks about her attraction to guy(s) to her love and protectiveness for her brother, to her classes, pastor, church and everything in between. She displays a complex range of emotions-- desire, shame, fear, anger, doubt, and pleasure, all rendered beautifully and effectively through this lyrical format. I only know that learning to believe in the power of my own words has been the most freeing experience of my life. It has brought me the most light. And isn't that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark. The only reason I didn't bump it upto five stars was because I felt that certain aspects of the book could have been explored a little more, it did bring up those things but didn't dive further into them. (view spoiler)[i mean the whole conversation around her brother being gay and coming out, that part didn't play out much and I know this is supposed to be her story and that's okay but I really wanted to see that part of the story to develop further too i guess, their parents coming to terms and accepting him for who he is. (hide spoiler)] But overall I really loved it, would HIGHLY RECCOMEND THE AUDIOBOOK FOR THIS which has been narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo herself. My parents probably wanted a girl who would sit in the pews wearing pretty florals and a soft smile. They got combat boots and a mouth silent until it’s sharp as an island machete. CWs for the book: Racism, Misogyny, slut-shaming, Body shaming, Sexual harassment & unwanted touching, Parental abuse, & parental abandonment, Cheating, Panic attacks, Recreational drug use, Alcohol abuse recounted, Minor physical injuries, Infertility themes & difficult childbirth mentioned, Bullying, Religion being used a justification for all the above

I combined the e-book with the audiobook (read by E. Acevedo herself) and it was quite the experience!! Wonderful writing, loved her voice. I am not at all into poetry, but this book I loved.

3.5 stars This was an excellent and powerful book and I understand why it has received such high praises. Objectively, this is a five out of five. But this just wasn’t my cup of tea because I don’t really enjoy contemporary poetry. It still was a great read tho.

5 stars |

part I was terrifyingly relatable. it highly takes emphasis on traditional and religious beliefs of a certain person (Xiomara's mom) and how they try to compel their child into something they (Xiomara) disfavor, until there comes the day more and more questions starts to form and pile up until these collective thoughts turned into merely antipathy for their conflicting faith and beliefs, but what can a child do over their own parent's abusive behaviour when every.single.thing. should be under their control as long as you live under the same roof? part II was a bit dreary probably because of the romance (view spoiler)[(I also didn't like how they still ended up together. X and Aman's relationship...that I won't acknowledge. seeing your partner get sexually violated in public and choosing to ignore? yeaaa enough for me. please.) (hide spoiler)] part III is when I shed tears, particularly because of the passage written below. but the rest were a bit of a letdown honestly, wrapped up way too quickly. (view spoiler)[there was an attempt to reconstruct her mother's attitude squeezed into the last five pages. (hide spoiler)] excerpt: "Going Home / Is one of the hardest things I've ever done. / Hands trembling at the thought / of what will happen when I walk through the / front door. / Because my mother's ears are soundproof when / it comes to me. / The only one she ever listens to is God." — part III, going home

An absolute perfection of a novel. I don't think I can adequately say much else immediately after reading, but every verse, each line down to each word, is so emotionally and mentally nourishing, and listening to the audiobook while reading my physical copy made the entire experience that much more rewarding.

This book is the best I've read all year. This story about religion, sexism, and growing up as a teenage girl was invaluable to me, with many struggles I could relate to. The Poet X made me feel understood. The poetry was beautiful and breathtaking, and heartbreaking at times. and I couldn't recommend this enough.

4,5/5🌟 I listened to this on Scribd and to be honest, I really recommend it! The author herself tells the story and she knows it better than anyone else. You can tell she knows when she needs to speed up and when to talk in a different tone. I also enjoyed the way it was written, with all the poems and personal information! I was so invested in the story, so when X was angry, I was angry. Authors who can do that are the actual best!